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Italian Football Players to be Exempt from Military Service VOA Sports 26 Feb 2002 17:20 UTC 
A player with Serie A club Verona has won a landmark case exempting Italian footballers from military service because they should be considered "artists."
Italy's under-21 midfielder Giuseppe Collucci Monday won exemption at a tribunal in Lazio, arguing that footballers should benefit from the same "special merits" currently established under Italian law.
The law allows young people involved in art, science, and culture at a national or international level to avoid military service.
The ruling is bad news for Italy's armed forces football team, once one of the strongest in the world. The team was previously able to draw on some of the top players in the game but in recent years has restricted selection to lower division players.
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